Butt rest adjustment

Greetings! I just got a 2003 SWing and would like to.move the butt rest back a bit. Dud some research here and learned there are two allen screws on the underside of the seat which can be loosened for that purpose. I tried that, removing the screws entirely, but the butt rest wouldn't budge.

Any ideas?

Jinglebob wrote:

Greetings!  I just got a 2003 SWing and would like to.move the butt rest back a bit.  Dud some research here and learned there are two allen screws on the underside of the seat which can be loosened for that purpose.  I tried that, removing the screws entirely, but the butt rest wouldn't budge.

Any ideas?

Is the butt rest already in it's rear most position? Pull it forward it should slide out, Lubricate and reinstall. Happy motoring lloyd 193.

Yea. take it off completely and enjoy the extra space.

Convert it to a back rest, gaining more room if needed and some lower back support.

I removed the back rest and love the extra room. Even put a cool seat cover on it now.

OK, didn't understand that the butt rest comes off by pushing it forward. Was able to remove it, but now I see that the associated brackets underneath, on the seat, are attached to the seat pan by both Phillips screws and rivets. Do you guys remove these, or what do you do with them?

I'm 6' 3" and need all the room I can get. I removed the butt rest and made a plywood backrest as in the photos in my album on this site. Here's one of the pics...

Gotcha. That looks really well done.

Hi

The backrest looks really good on your bike Mr Flyingpanman. I checked out your pictures and it seems fairly easy to do.
I was wondering if you could just cut 2 pieces of flat steel bar and drill holes to correspond with the adjusting legs in order to bolt one end to the butt rest and use the adjusting leg holes for the the other end, that would raise the butt rest height by a couple of inches so you get the same effect. Maybe the butt rest, now a back rest, will apply too much load to the legs as you lean back on them. Not sure.
The project looks interesting to me so just might start looking at making brackets.
Thanks for the idea.

Mr Blobby

Mr Blobby wrote:

Hi

The backrest looks really good on your bike Mr Flyingpanman. I checked out your pictures and it seems fairly easy to do.
I was wondering if you could just cut 2 pieces of flat steel bar and drill holes to correspond with the adjusting legs in order to bolt one end to the butt rest and use the adjusting leg holes for the the other end, that would raise the butt rest height by a couple of inches so you get the same effect. Maybe the butt rest, now a back rest, will apply too much load to the legs as you lean back on them. Not sure.
Mr Blobby

The flat steel bars (or marine plywood in my case) need padding out and the bars would need to be angled forward to place the backrest in the small of the back. If not, your "tailbone" area will become quite sore as it will contact the steel bars. I tried pushing back on my plywood effort and it would need a lot of effort to break it. I suspect the plastic seat moulding would give way first. That's why I reinforced with plates of ply underneath the seat. I find plywood is strong enough and also gives a springiness that helps absorb shocks and bumps.

I considered steaming the ply to put a bend in it, but decided a hinge with some means of adjusting the angle would be best. That's why I went with two plates of ply and the hinges.

One drawback is the butt-rest is so wide that a pillion has difficulty getting astride it on the rear seat. I'm considering finding a headrest in a breakers to make into the backrest. I could cut down the butt-rest, but I may need it if I ever sell the machine.

So far covering the steel bars on mine with heavy foam water pipe insulation has worked for me. The insulation is pre split and EZ to install another plus is it's dark gray, it blends well with the seat color.

Flyingpanman wrote:

I'm 6' 3" and need all the room I can get. I removed the butt rest and made a plywood backrest as in the photos in my album on this site. Here's one of the pics...

I'm 6'0" and the seat rest is pretty restrictive. This looks very effective. I have zip for talent so Ill admire only but My Compliments.

Greysilver I'm 6.0 also, the straight bar construction is pretty straight forward, so far I haven't felt the need to bend the straight pieces.

Greysilver wrote:

I'm 6'0" and the seat rest is pretty restrictive. This looks very effective. I have zip for talent so Ill admire only but My Compliments.

If you look on eBay, I'm sure there's a guy over in the States who sells a kit for the Silver Wing to convert the butt-rest to a back-rest. He uses a steel plate that bolts in, I think.

He also sells to the UK, but I'm a cheapskate and built mine from stuff hanging around the garage.

I just got one of those from eBay and put it on. Not sure how I feel about it yet. I need to go for a long ride with it and that will give me an idea about whether it's worth keeping.

Flyingpanman wrote:

Greysilver wrote:

I'm 6'0" and the seat rest is pretty restrictive. This looks very effective. I have zip for talent so Ill admire only but My Compliments.

If you look on eBay, I'm sure there's a guy over in the States who sells a kit for the Silver Wing to convert the butt-rest to a back-rest. He uses a steel plate that bolts in, I think.

He also sells to the UK, but I'm a cheapskate and built mine from stuff hanging around the garage.

If you are talking about the unit made by Vinson, give it a big miss. The quality of workmanship - welds, paint finish etc - is rubbish. Not worth the money !

Yep, as it turns out, that backrest catches me right in the middle of my back body armor. I rode with it for about 5 miles and realized it was not going to work. I put the backrest back into its normal place and pushed it all the way back as far as it would go, then put the Airhawk on the seat. I'll just learn to live with the stock seat, since I don't care to buy a Corbin seat again.

Hi, someone in the UK gave me very good advice to take the seat hump off and move the bracket on it down to just the bottom set of bolts, then fit back, in, you get just over an inch further back and the seat hump sits a little further up too.

You can just see the main seat fixed brackets then. It makes a very big difference.

When I bought mine it was on the middle setting !!!! so I got just over 2 inches more room doing that fix.

I did wonder if you can tilt the handle bars forward a little too.

Or has anyone fitted lower, more forward bars possibly as might be handy too.

I might try it with my hump off, though its a shame there is so little padding on the seat there.

I was thinking of buying a gel and foam pad anyway so that would help on that front.

Hope you got( or get ) to a comfortable and sorted place with it.

Best SWD

Currently, I have the backrest all the way to the rear and I have an AirHawk seat cushion on the seat. This combination seems to work quite well, so I'm satisfied, at least for now...

Hi Jinglebob, would you mind me asking you what size airhawk you got and how it fits, feels etc please.

I was thinking of getting one to reduce harshness getting through from the road on bad out of the way roads etc.

I wonder why the silverwing as standard is so cramped ? But my son says its much comfier and roomy on the back than my old T max, even with the silverwing Hump set so far back.

Best SWD

Hi, no problem.  I use an AirHawk R, size Large (LG).  They also describe it on the box as an AirHawk Cruiser R, size LG.  The box says that its dimensions are 14" deep and 14.5" wide.  Here's what it looks like on the bike:

SILVERWINGDAYS wrote:

Hi Jinglebob, would you mind me asking you what size airhawk you got and how it fits, feels etc please.

I was thinking of getting one to reduce harshness getting through from the road on bad out of the way roads etc.

I wonder why the silverwing as standard is so cramped ? But my son says its much comfier and roomy on the back than my old T max, even with the silverwing Hump set so far back.

Best SWD

Airhawks are very expensive. Look on ebay uk for Tourtecs air cushion (maybe Tourtechs?). Same type of thing/operation and around half the price. I've had one on my wing for over a year.

If you just want an idea of how it feels, search ebay for a wheelchair air cushion for around a tenner. Again, similar and I'm sitting on one at my computer. Problem is they are square and not enclosed in black cushion cover. After daily use, one punctured about 11 months old.

It's the neoprene rubber Airhawk cushions that are a tad pricey, but they also do a cheaper PVC option, and if accidentally punctured both are repairable. I've had a neoprene Airhawk for about 12 years, and it tends to be non slip mesh backing on the base of the Airhawk cover that gets worn.

Yes, you're right about the neoprene versions being pricey, but they are supposed to last longer and your 12 year use seems to confirm that.

I just had a quick look at prices of the Tourtecs and they have increased in price since I bought mine for around £50. They're more like £80 now!

The square pvc wheelchair cushions are very cheap at around a tenner each. It makes one wonder about the profit margins of the motorcycle versions. I managed to repair the pin-prick of a hole in mine with some Evo-Stik "Serious Glue" (my recommendation for many jobs) and it's stayed up for two days now - with my considerable weight on it! The square outline and lack of appropriate cover is the drawback for two-wheeled use.

Flyingpanman wrote:

Yes, you're right about the neoprene versions being pricey, but they are supposed to last longer and your 12 year use seems to confirm that.

Not really, I was just something I bought thinking I needed but I don't. Apart from when I regularly used it built up with a couple of layers of shaped closed cell for extra height to compensate for an over high Biondi screen on my 400 Burgman, I rarely used it in the two years I had a 650 Burgman even though it had a much harder seat than the 400.

The last time I remember using it on the Silver Wing was on the first day of a tour to Thuringia in Germany over five years ago. Then it went under the seat and and it stayed for the rest of the trip.

Last year I took it along the O2 Arena in London for the Country2Country Music Festival. Simply to get a bit of relief comfort when sitting for hours in the arse knumbing cramped seats there.  

I tried my Silverwing with the riders hump off and it felt really odd.

So popped it back on.

I think it will take a bit of getting used to like that.

Best SWD

Does anyone know why there is a rectangular steel plate held on with 4 button head bolts on the back of the butt rest? It does not appear to have any purpose!

JB

Hey, JB. I don't know what purpose they serve. I adapted my buttrest into a backrest. I used two 5" pieces of flat steel about 1" wide 1/4" thick with the holes lined up into the four holes that were occupied by the rectangular plate. The four bolts come in handy for that. Once you have those you line up the other end on to the brackets that held the sliders for the buttrest. Four holes and four short bolts hold the entire assembly tightly together. Slide your backrest into the brackets and tighten bolts under the seat. Your buttrest is now your backrest.
I rigged up a small piece of plexiglass and a piece of foam to cover the space between the bars.
You can angle the flat steel to your liking, mine are probably at 8 or 9 degrees. It takes a real shallow angle to be comfortable in your back.
Jay.